Posts Tagged ‘Anerican Cancer Society’

Do not attempt to adjust your screen, and don’t rub your eyes to the point of ulcerated corneas, it’s really me, making an appearance. I know it’s been a long time since my last blog entry; July 1, 2014 as a matter of fact when I finished my eighteen week long account of my battle with cancer.
I’ve thought and I’ve thought of what type of things I could write about since then to keep my blog going since my main focus was never really on one topic but rather putting my spin on some things that otherwise made me go, hmm…. . But now I think I have a purpose for resurrecting my blog and hopefully it will incite me to be more active and creative here.
Before I get to it, let me bring you all up to date. January 22 of this year was my first anniversary of remission. Twice during that time, well, since last August, my oncologist, Dr. David, has postponed any further Pet scans because my blood work keeps coming back better and better each time. I see him next in April and maybe at that point I’ll be due for one. Also since my last blog entry I’ve had two basal cells removed; one from my forehead back in October and one from the inside of my right ear this past Thursday for which we trekked through the “snow storm of the century” to the Upper East Side of Manhattan. It’s healing nicely but it’s sore and itchy under the bandages. Now that we’re up to date, let me get to my point and not belabor it.
As many of you know, while I was going through my treatment for my Lymphoma, I learned how to crochet and I’ve made some fairly impressive pieces, if I do say so myself, but I can make only so many afghans for myself.
And then I had an idea. I contacted the American Cancer Society and they aligned me with Ebay’s Giving Works. I wanted to put my crocheting to better use other than to have a collection of afghans the size of Fred Flintstones’ Bronto Ribs that tipped over his car at the drive- in draped over the back of my couch. I am crocheting baby blankets to auction off to help raise money (100% of the proceeds) for cancer research, in the hopes that future generations will never have to go through the torments of cancer.
So far I’ve sold one blanket and currently have my second one up and I will be starting the next one, most likely later on after settling in once my Sunday “to-do” list is done.
I will let the text in the picture below speak for itself and I’ve also included pictures of the blanket itself as well as the link to the auction page.
Please take a look. Please bid if you have an interest and more importantly, please spread the word. Everyone knows someone who is having a baby. And chances are you know someone who has had or has some form of cancer. How nice would it be to know you may have helped someone not have to battle cancer?
Thank you.

I’m loving this challenging exchange I’m getting from Melissa and as a result, I have a few figures to share with her and everyone else. According to the American Cancer Society website, 1 in 6 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in his lifetime, which works out to about 17%. Averaging out the figures from two different counts of the male population (all ages) in 2009 (151 and 155 million) we come up with 153,224,749 which equates to approximately 26,048,207 men who run the chance of being diagnosed. Prostate cancer makes up about 10% of cancer deaths among men and 1 in 35 men will die from it.

Let’s move on to something else. Who has heard the name Colonel Van Barfoot in the news over the last few days? He’s the most highly decorated WWII and Vietnam veteran alive, with more than 20 medals, including the Medal of Honor, The Silver Star, the Legion of Merit, The Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts for being wounded that many times in both wars. When his story first broke, the homeowners association in the Sussex Square housing community in Richmond, Virginia, where he’s lived since July of this year, was ordering him to take down the flagpole on his front lawn which held his flag on Labor Day and Veteran’s Day. It’s not that the association altogether forbids flagpoles, as long as they are short enough to fit on a porch and be aesthetically appropriate, but that’s now how Barfoot says he was brought up to respect the flag. While the association insists it’s not an issue of the American Flag, but rather about the flagpole and that he knew he was not allowed to have one without permission when he moved in. A lot of people, including Senator Mark Warner have risen up in support of the Colonel and the issue was even discussed at length at a White House press conference earlier this week. The housing association has given Barfoot the deadline of December 11 to remove the flagpole.

After intense public pressure and extensive media coverage, Colonel Van Barfoot, as of yesterday, has won the right to keep his 21-foot free standing flagpole and this decision has set a precedent to allow all Medal of Honor recipients to have flagpoles regardless of community regulations. Homeowners associations may have the authority to regulate the color of your home or even the way your garden looks, but in a case like this, where someone of such stature elected to fight (yet again in another type of war) to fly the American Flag the way he saw fit and has earned that right through his military career, should realize if it weren’t for the American Flag, there might not be a neighborhood they could rule over. Yes, Virginia…

No charges will be filed against Donna Jackson who shot and killed an intruder who attempted to break into her home while she was on the phone with a 911 operator and waiting for the police to arrive. “I don’t want to have to kill this man,” she whispered into the phone, “but I’ll kill him graveyard dead, ma’am”.

So, here’s something that caught me by surprise last night. We were watching the Ellen show and Marie Osmond was one of her guests and she introduced her as “entertaining you for the past 45 years…”. I just about fell out of my chair to think how that could be possible. But when you consider she’s only a year older than I am and she first appeared on The Andy Williams Show as part of her brothers’ act when she was three, 45 years fit. When you think Marie Osmond, you don’t think 50 years old. Do you? But I guess it happens. We all stay the same age as we get older.